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3 arrested for elder abuse and Medicaid fraud in Arkansas

According to prosecutors, three people were arrested in Arkansas on charges of Medicaid fraud and elder abuse in separate cases, including a case in which an assisted living facility employee was seen beating an elderly woman with Alzheimer's disease.

All three suspects in the various cases were arrested or surrendered to custody on October 31.

North Little Rock resident Ja'Layia J. McClendon, 28, was arrested on a charge of abuse of a vulnerable or impaired person after prosecutors said witnesses saw her hitting an 82-year-old woman with Alzheimer's disease who was in a Assisted living facility in Little Rock lived. According to the public prosecutor's office, the woman suffered bruises on her face and forearm.

Trey Franks, 28, was arrested Oct. 31 in Little Rock on a warrant for the same charge after prosecutors said more than $1,000 was transferred to his credit card from the bank account of a woman living at a long-term care facility in Cabot , Arkansas, in five separate transfers from September to October 2023.

The third arrest was Hannah Christmas, a 34-year-old Hamburg, Arkansas resident who faces charges of Medicaid fraud. She is accused of billing the Dermott, Hamburg and Lakeside school districts $5,500 for physical therapy services that were never provided from August 2023 to April 2024.

USA TODAY attempted to contact attorneys for all three people but either could not identify any or did not receive a response from them.

Elder abuse can take many forms, including physical, psychological or sexual abuse, financial exploitation or neglect and abandonment. The Department of Justice estimates that more than 10% of people over the age of 65 experience some form of elder abuse each year.

Max Hauptman is a trends reporter for USA TODAY. He can be reached at [email protected]

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